District Chairman Lion Mary Olsson.
Email: emolsson@tpg.com.au

Jamie Jamieson started the Youth of the Year Quest in Australia 42 years ago.

The qualities sought after, apart from academic attainment, are those of leadership, Personality, Sportsmanship, Public Speaking and good Citizenship. Winner's progress up the different levels, Club, Zone, Region and District, receiving a Trophy at this level. From here the winning student moves to the State Judging with the winner, winning a trip around Australia plus spending money. The final judging is the National Judging where the winner receives a choice of two prizes being an overseas trip as an ambassador for Australia OR a specific overseas study tour.

The National Bank is once again to sponsor this project; I believe they have sponsored us continuously for the past nine years. We must remember to have good sponsor promotion as well as NAB staff at all levels of judging.

THE NATIONAL BANK HAVE A NEW LOGO SO ALL STATIONARY USED THIS YEAR MUST HAVE NEW LOGO NOT OLD ONE.

The Youth of the Year Manual has been revised and tidied up to make it more user friendly, while the same valuable information is still there.

Lion Mary Olsson
Youth of the Year Chairman

...................District Contestants 08

D.G. Tom and Q4 Winner 08

LIONS YOUTH OF THE YEAR QUEST 09:
This Quest represents a commendable commitment to bringing out the best in young people as well as preparing them for active roles in society that are vital to entering the field of employment, higher education or private endeavours. It is inspiring and invaluable to our young Australians in that it offers personal growth and development, as well as experiences that would generally come at a later stage, if at all, in their lives.
The qualities sought after, apart from academic attainment, are those of Leadership, Personality, Sportsmanship, Public Speaking and good Citizenship. Winners at Club, Zone, Region and District level receive incentive prizes as they progress up the different levels of judging including a trophy when District winner is attained. From here the winning student moves on to the State judging with the winner winning a trip around Australia plus spending money. The final judging is the National judging where the winner receives a choice of two prizes, they being, an overseas trip as an ambassador for Australia OR a specific overseas study tour.
The Youth of the Year Quest is an excellent example of a great working alliance between Lions and our leaders of tomorrow and a model on how Lions can build bridges in partnership. The other good news regarding this Project is that there is no entry fee and that it can be conducted as a self-funding project or, at the worst, minimal cost. A lot of Clubs run a couple of raffles to offset the cost of pens, badges, bannerettes, certificates, etc..
To assist us in keeping this the No.1 Multiple District Youth Project started 43 years ago, by Jamie Jamieson I seek your Clubs participation.
To be involved your Club only needs one contestant, although more is desirable. Should your Club be in a community where there are other Lions, Lioness or Leo Clubs that are not currently involved in the Youth of the Year Quest I ask that you invite them to join in a combined Club judging. Example - Given that there are 4 Clubs and that 12 students enter the Quest, the students are then allocated to each Club (i.e. 3 students per Club). All the host Club has then to do is advise the judging panel that they have to select 4 Club winners.
By conducting the Quest in this manner 4 students have been given the opportunity to progress on to the next level of judging instead of only 1 student had only 1 Club participated. It also has the benefit of providing greater Club interaction and it is all done in one afternoon and night using only one panel of judges.
Some of our Clubs are situated in communities where there is no Secondary High School (Year 12) and because of this believe they cannot participate in this Quest. In the majority of cases there is a school bus of secondary students departing for a neighbouring town and returning each day or the students attend a boarding school in a larger town. To overcome this problem, please approach the Clubs in the towns where the students are receiving their education if the students from your community can represent your Club at their Club judging. I am confident that these students will be gladly accepted.
With regard to organising this Quest it is strongly recommended that Club Chairpersons speak with schools and students well before years end on how Quest is conducted. This gives the schools time to include this Quest in the schools programme, the students ample time to prepare for the Quest, as well as greatly assisting Clubs in the organising of Club judging early in the first semester of the new school year.
As the Quest is once again being sponsored by the National Australia Bank it is important that Clubs honour this highly valued support by inviting a member of the National to be part of the judging panel or being a guest at the night time judging. Another "must" is that the press is invited to attend the final part of Club/Zone/Region judging for photo shoot of contestants and story. Please ensure that our sponsor is thanked in this report.
In the near future all Clubs will be receiving Club Entry Forms and other information regarding the 2007/8 Quest.
Blue Card requirements: For Queensland, all personnel involved with the Quest e.g. Judges YOY Chairmen Chaperones etc. MUST have a current card with them at all times.
By participating in this Quest your Club will:
1. Have assisted the youth of your community in preparing themselves to face the future and to become 1st class citizens.
2. Give your Club much needed publicity as well as lifting the profile of Lions in your community.
3. Assist your Club greatly when embarking on other community and fundraising projects.
Youth of the Year Judging Dates:
Club ........... 28th February 2009,

Zone ......…..7th March 2009,

Region ...….14th March 2009,

District ........21thMarch 2009

State ........... 4th April 2009 (Q1 to host),

M.D. Final.... 2nd May 2008 (1st Day MD Convention Melbourne)

Mary Olsson, District YOTY Chairman.

Phone: 49275207

Mob. 0413613663 E-mail: emolsson@tpg.com.au